Wid's Films and Film Folk (1916)

Thursday, May 25, 1916. WID’S , FORCEFUL STAR AND ATMOSPHERE SAVED VERY JUMPY STORY. William Farnum in THE BATTLE OF HEARTS Fox Film. DIRECTOR. 230,050 as 508s bos Ons Oscar Apfel GAMERA ‘MAN 3.0 e3:0).-25; See Alfredo Gandolfi ASA. WHOLE WW osne ee fe ee ee Interesting SVE ORIYA: erect she neat Holds, but has bad jumps DIRHOCTIONS Ss oe ys ee Just good PHOTOGRAPHY (3:2... 00) eee Just good LIGHTINGS (2) snakve oc, « ee Good and fair CAMERA: WORK, 20... Gee Good STAT yk. peter. vscihede eG esc 3s Forceful SUBPORD ie ena ss) se ee Very good EXTERIORS . coi ss vet Oe Some very good ENTRBIORS® oP. . slen's ss 0 ee ee Good DEPAUL oo. . ea ke toes + er ee Fair MEINGDH Petts cine Desde oe Ree ee Five parts 4)HIS is an offering with some very good and some very bad moments. There are a few good dramatic situations, a few incidents which have real appeal and one or two scenes which developed with a good tempo. As against this, however, we have a number of places where the story makes jumps which are decidedly confusing, and there are several slips in the production which it seems rather hard to condone. Among these slips, aside from the bad jumps in construction, were the places where we should have had storms and find the water perfectly calm, and the use of a very bad miniature lighthouse. The situation which showed the father freely welcoming his son to his home soon after he found him to be a thief and a rather unnecessary anticlimax were also rather bad. There was a very good atmosphere about the offering, which was laid in a fishing village, and we had a few exteriors which were decidedly interesting. There were three storms in the action, however, and never at any time did we see any really rough water. Mr. Farnum was, as he always is, a forceful, dominating figure, and his work was decidedly pleas SERVICE POEM SPLENDIDLY PICTURIZED BY SUGGESTION. Edmund Breese in THE SPELL OF THE YUKON Pop. P. & P.-Metro. dioplone teh er S266 ali (sito! 3. Seno Burton King CAMERAUMAIN . Soo 22. See Leo Bergman STORYOBY vote cic a) ee Aaron Hoffman SCHNARIO/ BY) 2505, 05... on Watlace C. Clifton AS PAU WIHODMEL. ve teiciives wi stlett Distinctive, forceful DIRECTOR STOR YVairt:« Gist eke isl. etane ss Holds very well DIREGTION . ciccelee. s lnnc> see Very good ‘PHOTOGRAPHY. =. :.'... <:«. >. eer ene heen Good LIGHTINGS (coset cis ce fe ee Quite effective CAMERA WORK 2 ii...°5... . | See ce .. Excellent STAR ie th balers etseeisyes ac e0s: «3. <. tS eee Forceful SUBRBPORDO sts tcontes eas + ee ee Very good EXTHRIORS ose. 3s a Some very beautiful aLNTTRITORS oo eeae Gin vs 0.0 st uh WE Very good DETATE oo eck cusrenitess «scl: ee cn ee ee Good LENGTHS ihe stile eh ose Five parts 598 ing. Elda Furry gave a splendid performance as — Maida, the captain of a fishing boat, and Wheeler ~ Oakman gave a remarkably well handled characteri— zation of the weak son of the old lighthouse keeper. — It seemed to me that this offering would have been — much better with more close-ups of Miss Furry and — Mr. Oakman. The use of the cut-and-flash method, — with good close-ups of Mr. Farnum, Miss Furry and ~ Mr. Oakman would have helped decidedly in putting over some of the more important dramatic situations. There were a few human touches in the development of the story and these registered rather well. f The finish as presented on the screen was a decided anti-climax, and certainly it would have been much better with more close-ups of Miss Furry and of the scene in the cabin of the boat where Miss Furry ordered Mr. Farnum to bed. If he had responded with-a title “Aye, Aye, Captain,” it would ~ have connected very nicely with a bit of action earlier in the film ,and the story would have had a ~ snappy ending with a human touch. I am sure © this would have left the audience with a better impression. The several scenes which followed were pretty — but the story was over, and they were decidedly — unnecessary, with the result that it is a bad anticlimax. a Taken as a whole, this is an offering which will — be counted good, although it does not register as a ~ particularly big production. Many of the dramatic — scenes would have had much greater effect had they been handled better as to close-ups and cutting, and the story itself would have made a better impression had the various incidents been tied together instead of being offered in such jumpy continuity. I would advertise Mr. Farnum particularly in this, but would also call attention to the presence of Mr. Oakman, mentioning the fact that he played the part of the ‘Ne’er-do-well” in the big production — of that name and has also starred in other Selig © offerings. A mention of Maida, played by Elda — Furry, will probably arouse some interest if she — is described as a skipper’s daughter who ruled a boat and eventually ruled a man. Whatever you do, do not talk too much about the — storms in this, because they are painfully tame. HIS is a production which is based upon the wonderful poems of Robert W. Service. It has been made distinctive by direction which gives wonderful atmosphere and registers most of the points by suggestion, leaving something to the imagination of the audience. Throughout the offering we have titles which are dissolved into the action of the scene or else they are given over an animated scene hich suggests the thought of the title. This was splendidly worked out in many places and is in a way a distinctive departure, being somewhat of a combination of the — title-card idea used by the Ince studios, and the animated titles used in “Ramona.” In a*number of — places entire incidents were put over by tableaus | which left only the faces lighted up against the © background, giving something of an allegorical effect — to the suggestion, the thought being put over with— out unuecessary detail as to locations and needless — continuity. 7